Back to theDrawing BoardBlogging the Co-op Life

Co-opnoun \ˈkō-ˌäp, kō-ˈ\: a business or organization that is owned and operated by the people who work there or the people who use its services.

noun 1. a cooperative store, dwelling, program, etc. verb (used with object), co-oped, co-oping. 2. to place in a cooperative arrangement, especially to convert (an apartment or building) to a cooperative.

Yes, that is what we are. And we have been that for 40 years. That's a long time, don't you think, for a group of folks to travel together? And traveling is what we do, although we have been in the same location all those years. Our membership has traveled. People have moved in and out of the co-op. Some staying just a few months and others for 40 years! And the way we do business has traveled, from a brick and mortar to an online store (keeping the "real" one and adding the digital one-"one is silver and the other gold" -you may know that song.) Our way of handling sales has also made the trip-from an old-timey cash register to a fully confusing and updated system (actually our POS or Point of Sale system is wonderful but keep in mind we are right-brained and the Beast was designed by a left brainer). And recently, here we are updating our website and store and finally adding this blog. More traveling. And yes, this is our first blog and this its first entry. And I am the first official Commonwheel Blogger.

So there, I did it. I started. And now I will travel to my studio (which is in the next room) to make some cool stuff. After all, that is why we are here, we make cool stuff, we want you to see our cool stuff and then you like our cool stuff.

My blogs after this will be more important, and more informational, and more eloquent. But today I just needed to begin. Because with so many people traveling together, sometimes beginning is the hardest thing.